Bathinda, Mansa SGPC members resign after village land dispute

In a new twist to the ongoing tussle over ownership of 161 acres of land at Bhai Rupa village, members of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) from Bathinda and Mansa districts have resigned from their posts blaming the district administration for taking the side of the langar sewa society.

The majority of SGPC members from the two districts submitted their resignations to SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar at Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda on Sunday, alleging that the district administration was helping the members of Dhan Dhan Baba Bhai Roop Chandji Langar Sewa Society instead of allowing the SGPC, which is the legal owner of the land, to take possession of the land.

Makkar confirmed the development saying the SGPC members from these two districts had tendered their resignations. He, however, did not reveal the number of the members who resigned saying majority of them had resigned.

He claimed that despite the SGPC being the legal owner of the land the district administration was not cooperating with it in taking possession of the land.

He alleged that both the police and civil administration were being lenient to the society as none of the villagers booked for attacking the SGPC team had yet been arrested.

Blaming deputy commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav for the current situation, he said had the administration been fair the committee could have taken possession of the land properly.

Makkar alleged that the police present on the spot on the day of the scuffle between the SGPC and society members resorted to threatening the committee members. He said the SSP had assured him to take appropriate action against the accused in three days.

Meanwhile, society member Nand Singh termed it as a “pressure tactic” by the SGPC to grab the land saying the committee was trying to usurp the land using government machinery.

Both the DC and SSP could not be contacted despite attempts. The SGPC and the langar sewa society have both been staking claim on 161 acres of land in the village.

Both had a violent clash on Wednesday after the committee team tried to lease out the land for cultivation, leaving three SGPC members injured. As many as 16 villagers have been booked under the attempt to murder charges.